Collection

The Towner Collection is an ever-growing collection of 5000 works of modern British and international contemporary art, with a focus on landscape, women artists and moving image.

The collection began in 1920 with Alderman John Chisholm Towner’s bequest of 20 paintings to the people of Eastbourne. The bequest included Victorian paintings of landscapes, animals and children by popular artists of the day.

Over time, the collecting policy was extended to allow pictures by Sussex artists regardless of subject matter, and later to include paintings by non-Sussex artists.
Today, the Collection features a cross-section of important 20th Century British artists, including Christopher Wood, Edward Bawden, Tirzah Garwood, Frances Hodgkins, Paul Nash, Victor Pasmore, Alfred Wallis, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. It also boasts a major body of work by Eric Ravilious.
Contemporary artists represented in the Towner Collection include John Akomfrah, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Tacita Dean, Olafur Eliasson, Omer Fast, Anya Gallaccio, Julian Opie, David Nash, Grayson Perry, Wolfgang Tillmans, Dineo Seshee Bopape and Rachel Jones.
Towner is undertaking a critical analysis of its repositories to illuminate the critical roles women have played in the museum’s collecting and exhibition history.
In spring 2026, Towner relocated Eastbourne Borough Council’s Heritage Collections to a new dedicated storage facility in Hampden Park. The collections are made up of approximately 20,000 artefacts, photographs and works on paper of local and regional significance.
Key strengths include archaeology, local history and extensive photographic collections documenting Eastbourne’s development over the past 150 years.
Towner hosted Project Relic at the store, an 8-week paid summer skills initiative for seven young people aged 18 to 25, giving participants hands-on opportunities at the store to handle, catalogue, and care for local history, archeology and military collections.
As well as providing suitable storage, the new space will also mean that interested individuals and groups will soon be able to request access to view and research items.
Visitors will be able to get up close to some of the wonderful objects that belong to the people of Eastbourne - from intriguing curios to hidden gems - and discover the stories behind the collection.